Circular-knitting machine.



F. WILGO MB. GIRCULAE'KNITTING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED APR, 20, 1914.

Patented Feb. 23, 1915 3 SHEETSSHEET l.

GIRGULQR KNITTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 20, '1914.

l St

F. WILGQMB. CIRCULAR KNITTENG MACHINE, APPLICATION FILED 5 33.20, 1914.

Patented Feb. 28, 1915.

spring for each of the yarn fingers.

FRANK '"WILCOMB, OF PAEVTUCKET. ESLJZND, AS33181? FACTURING COMPANY, OFCENTRAL FALL-S RHGDE- ISLA'HVD, CUREDRATIGN OE RHQDE ISLAND.

CIRCULAR-KNZTTING MACHINE.

To all re/ 10m. it may concern:

Be itknown that I, FRANK VVILCOMB, citizen of the United States,residing at Pawtucltct, Rhode Island, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Circular- Knitting Machines, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention comprises an organization for operating the yarn feedfingers of a circular stocking knitting machine and it consists in thefeatures and combination and :urangementof parts hereinafter describedand particnlarly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawi igs Figure 1 is a front view of a knitting head with myimprovement attached. Fig. 2 is a plan view. of the yarn finger liftinglevers. and associated parts. the latch ring together with the yarnfingers carried thereby being omitted. Fig. 3 is a view looking from theright'of Fig. 1 with the knitting head omitted. Figs. -l and show inplan and in side elevation a guide box for lifting pins. 6 is a detailview of the lifting pin for the splicing yarn finger. Figs. T to 10 aredetails.

In the drawings 1 is the knitting head. This may be of various types,spring needle r latch needle but for convenience I show the general formknown as the Banner, be-i ing disclosed in Letters Patent of the UnitedStates granted to Hemphill No. 93333-3, dated September 7, 1909.

2 is the latch ring which is movable in relation to the knitting head inthe ordinary manner, being pivotally mounted oil' to one side so that itmay be swung upwardly and backwardlv to permit access to the needles fortransferring or other purposes well understood by lznitters. This latchring carries pivotally mounted thereon at 3 a series of yarn fingers,one of these i being shown in Fig. 1 in its elevated or out of workposition while another finger 5 is shown in dotted lines in its loweredposition to deliver its yarn to the needles-this finger being for thesplicing yarn for making the high splice and double sole. Each of the'yarn fingers is under pressure of a lever 6. these levers being pivotedat 6 to an extension of the latch ring and acted on. by a spring 7suitably mounted in the latch ring there being one of these levers 6with its Each yarnfinger is swung upwardly to its inoperative or out ofwork position by a lever .20. Figs. 1; 2 and Specification of LettersPatent. Patent-9d i733} 23 1915 Application filed April 20. 191-1.Serial No. 833,268.

8 one for each varn and these levers are pivotally mounted at 9 to astandard 10 suitably mounted on the fixed base 11 of the knitting head.This standard, as in common practice, serves as a support for the latchring, said ring having an adjustable screw stop 12 to bear on the top ofthe standard 13. These levers are raised by pins ll. 14 guidedvertically in a box or matrix fixed to the standard 10. Fig. shows inplan the standard 16 with the levers 8 and it will be seen that thereare six of these and consequently in the present example of my inventionthere are six yarn fingers.

The matrix or box 15 for guiding the lifting 79 pins it may heof variousforms and the pins also may be of various shapes, but in. the particularconstruction shown the guide box is made up of separate pieces orsections 15', fitting against each other at their lower 7 sections orleaves are also formed'with gig guide ways 16 for the lifting pins andwhile these pins may be of various shapes, as above indicated, in theparticular construction shown they are square in cross section and theguide ways 1G are formed to corre- 35 spend. The separate sections ofthe matrix or guide box are held "together bypins 17, Fig. l shown indotted lines.

The lifting pins'are arranged in. echelon and the pin l-l which raisesthe splicinggo yarn guide through the lever 8 at the rear is thicker tl'in any'of the other pins and at its lower end it has a notch- 18 in itsside face which receives the end of an arm 19,

hereinafter "referred to for raisin and lowering thefpin. The pin isalso raised by a pattern controller lever :20 and there a. lever like.this one for each o the other lifting pins, these other levers beingmarked 20 extend substantially horizontally to the front of the machineand arepi'otallv mounted on a rod 21 held by a post fixed to thebase-plate of the machine. These-levers-are operated by wires one ofwhich is shown at23 in Fig. 3. These wires extend down at the front ofthe machine outside the frame and at their lower ends these wires areconnected to levers like thepattern levers f of the Hemphill patentabove men- These levers 2 and 10o v fingers will be in or out of work.-While the leg, heel and toe are being imit the lever 20 is ,operated bythe described connections 1 leading to the patterndrum to hold the pin1-1? l p-and. thus the-splicing yarn finger 5' will he held lip-out ofwork. When the high ,sp'lice or double soleis to be knit, however, thelever is operated to allow the pin 14* tobe lowered and the spring 7come E g-spending to thesplicing yarnfinger oper-.

. siting-through the proper lever 6 the splic ing yarn finger will .belowered. into work.

This splicing "finger when lowered by the flowering er its pin 14* is,broughtv within 0 range' of operating mechanism which will f raiseandlowerthe'splicing yarn finger as 'i :in ordinary practice. Thisoperating mechanism consistent the arm 19, above mentiioned, which isconnected'adjustably to a 1 5- vertically movable slide 2% which isguided :inthe standard 10,'being substantially in closed within. thisstandard as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1.. This slide is guided bythe walls of the'sta'ndard and by a gib sofheld ,betweenthe walls-of thestandard by screws 26 4 The, slideiis recessed or of channel form asshown in 'dotted lines-at 27, Fig. 2, and

this portion receives the rear end of the arm as 19 whichis pivotedbetween the walls of this channeled part on apin 28. The rear end of thearm 19 has projections 29 borne'upon ,byfladjnstingscrews 30 held by theslide and g ,2 thus'the arm 19 can be tipped up or'down, 'igo' and thusthroughits engagement with the notch 18 ofithe lifting pinl the splicingyarn finger can be adjusted accurately to its work. Thejslide 24: isoperated vertically by: a cam 31 connected to the clutch block b,

' which block is similarly marked in the Hernphill patent abovementioned, the said cani bearing on a roller 3-2journaled on a pinconnected with the lower end of the slide. This cam movesthc slideupwardly. 5cv while its downward movement is due to gravity assisted bythe spring 7 belonging to the-splicing yarn finger and a spring 34within the standz' rd which at its lower endbears on ashoulder of theside 24 and at its upper end bears on api'n fixed in the standard; Theclutch block 5 is operated by a lever bin changing from round torecipro- 'cating knitting or the reverse; the gear 6 imparting'moveinentfor round knitting to ated from a segmental gearj'ifljthese beingsubstantially the samegas 5.1 3

' ting the leg and that the cam 81 is in its In Fig. 1 the parts are inthe position for splicing,- the clutch block 2; being shifted to theright so that the drive'takes place.-

When the leg or the heel and toe is being knit the lever 20 lifts thepin 14: and this in turn lifts the splicing yarn finger by The slide 24is limmeans of the lever 8 corresponding thereto and the lifting of thepin 14 also raises the arm 19 together with the slide 24 and thus raisesthe roller out of range of the cam 31, assuming that the machine isknitright hand position as shown. It will be understood that when'the.heel and toe is being knit the clutch block 5 would be shifted leftwardand the cam 31 would thus be out .of the vertical plane-of the roller32, but notwithstanding this the lever-20 would maintain the slide 10;and the splicing yarn finger in its elevated position to hold this yarnfinger 5 out of work and thus the roller 32 would remain in its elevatedposition and the rightward movement of the cam 31 would not beinterfered with.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 4: the'front section of the matrix or box 15 isextended downward and is provided with vertical slots in which the rearends of the levers 20, :20 are guided and sustained against lateraldisplacement. It will be observed that theslide 2% provides a simple anddirect form of connectionbetween the operating cam and the lifter of thesplicing yarn-finger This slide while inclosed in the post is readilyaccessible from the open side of the thisslide carries the arm 19 thiscan be readily adjusted to alter the throw of the yarn splicing finger 5by adjusting the screws abovementioned. By the use of the verticallymoving li'tting pins operating-1n con- "nection with the lifting arms orlevers 8, the

necessary amount of movement may be secured in lifting and lowering theyarn feed .post or standard 10 indicated at .22, and as fin ers and atthe same time little room is needed and thus the mechanism is adaptedvto'go onto a machine having a low needle cylinder, for lifting pinshaving a short stroke may be employed because themovementor these'pinsismultiplied'by thelevers" 8; The standard or post 10 carries theslideiQ hthe guide box or, matrix 15 with the ligtt 'erfpins,andthelifting -a'r1ns or levers 8' 1 and all these parts can be removedfrom the machine and replaced as one unit by removmg and replacing thepost or standard. The standard has a foot portion shown in Fig. 3,held-by screws- 35 to the plate ll of the machine frame. it is desirablesometimes to raise the thread lingers higher or lower with reference tothe top of the needles and it has been customary on the type of machineknown as the Banner, to bend the levers operated by-the pattern drum toget this result. I have provided adjustable connections between the[pattern drum levers and the thread levers whereby the operator or adjuster may lengthen or shorten the links to give the thread carriersmore or less movement. I have shown two forms of adjustment, either oneofwhich accomplishes the result aimed at. J

The form shown in Fig. 8 is composed of -alink 23, both ends havinghooks 23 to engage pins in the levers and in the pattern drum levers 20"which are operated by the pattern drum, a portion of which is shown at23". The link in this case is made in two parts, one part being threadedinto the other part at 23* and when it is desired to vary the length ofthis link it is only necessary to unhook one end of the link and giveit'a turn and when it is hooked into the levers no check nuts arerequired to hold it in its proper adjustment, the hooked end of thelinks fitting in the forked ends of the levers as at 20".

In the form shown in Figs. 9 and 10 the link is made with a two partcoupling 36 and the two link ends are rigidly fixed to the two partcoupling. One'part of the coupling is attached to one link end and theother part 88 to the other link end by striking in the metal at 39. Onelink end 4-0 projects through its coupling into the other couplingmember and can move freely in the other half of he coupling. The twohalves of the coupling are ad ustably connected by v a screw ll passingfreely through one and threaded with the other, and a am screw is usedin the same threaded hole with the adji 4 To get any desired length oflink it is only necessary to turn the adjusting screw ll as desired, andit may be locked by tl e jam screw \Vhen so connectcd the 1 machine ma ybe taken apart without changing the adjustment and there is no liabilityof displacement as in the form first desril'ied. When it is desired toremove the l swithout taking the machine apart it is only necessary toremove entirely the adjusting screw and thereby separating the twohalves of the coupling and links and when the two halves are puttogether again they do not require readjustment as the jam screwdetermines the positioning of the halves of the coupling object a at isan adjustablelinh connection as.

Lisefide the operating ends ofthe two sets of levers,

or to provide an adjustment between the yarn finger and itsoperatingconnection.

lclaun:

In combination in a circular knitting pin and means for guiding thelifting pin,

substantially as described.

2. ln combination in a circular knitting machine, a plurality of yarnfeed fingers, including a splicing yarn finger, a cam and cam shaft, avertically movable slide operated bythe said cam directly, means forguiding the slide, an arm carried by the slide extending substantiallyhorizontally, and lifting means operated by said arm to lift and lowerthe splicing yarn guide, said arm being adjustable vertically inrelation to the yarn finger and slide, substantially as described.

3. In combination in a circular knitting machine, a plurality of yarnfeed fingers, including a splicing yarn finger, a cam and cam shaft, avertically movable slide operated by the said cam directly, means forguiding the slide, an arm carried by the slide extending substantiallyhorizontally, and lifting means operated by said arm to lift and lowerthe splicing yarn guide, said arm being pivotallymounted on the slideand adjusting means for holding the arm in dif ferent angular positionsabout its pivot, substantial y as described.

l. ln combination in av circular knitting machine, a plurality of yarnfeed fingers, including a splicing yarn finger, a vertically movingslide, a cam shaft and cam operatsaid slide directly,'means for guidingslide, a lifting pin vertically movable, a connecting the slide withsaid pin, and a lever for lifting the pin together with the arm andslide, said pin lifting and lowering the splicing yarn finger and theslide when it is raised and lowered by the lever, substantially asdescribed.

5, In combination in a circular knitting machine, a plurality of yarnfingers, a series of lif ing pins movable vertically, means for guidingsaid lifting pins, levers inter- ;osed between the lifting pins and the,yarn feed fingers, a post supporting the pivoted levers and theguidemeans for the lifting pins, and levers for operating the liftingbins, said levers extending and operating in planes substantially atright angles to the vertical planes in which the yarn feed i more,substantially asdescribed.

. in combination in'a circular knitting ma- -.'chine a 'pluralit 'ofarnfeed in ers a the 1ifting'pi-ns s'iabsF-tanti-aiiy-est luraiity.pf-"lifu ngpiiis for saidfingers, dese ztibegl i 4 r g evers betweensaid. pins and yarn feed fin- In testimon whereoffl aflix mysig-n'atiim.gers, a box for guiding said lifting pins and. in presence 0 twowitnesses. e 5 levers consisting of a series 9f sections with FRANKWILCOMB.

guides formed therein for the lifting pins Witnesses:

andseparated at their ,upper ends-tov form I H. J. GREEB,"

guide spaces for thelevers and levers for JOHN-T. Begum),

